Friday, November 8, 2013

Frugal Friday: Kitchen Tutorial - How to Puree Winter Squash

If you've been following this blog for a while you know that I love to use pureed pumpkin or other winter squash in my cooking. Along with adding nutrition to the food I make, it gives it a wonderful warm, homey flavor that I've come to love. We love to grow winter squash in the garden. And one of the best things about it, is they keep for a long time in the basement and I can use them almost all year round.

Last year's squash harvest

I've already shared with you a tutorial on how to freeze winter squash in cubes. Today I'm going to share the instructions for making your own pureed pumpkin or other winter squash. Winter squash (just as a reminder) is any squash that has a really tough outer shell that will store for several months. Some examples would be butternut, pumpkin, Hubbard, sunshine, banana, etc. You may want to stick with the creamier types of squash for pureeing. Stringy types like spaghetti and acorn squash probably won't give you the greatest results.

Microwave Method - Cut up the squash into pieces that will fit in your microwave (no peeling necessary). Cover “meat” side of the squash pieces with plastic wrap and microwave for 5-15 minutes or until "meat" is tender and you can scoop it out with a fork.